Modeling the dynamics and species composition of a tropical mixed-species uneven-aged natural forest: effects of alternative cutting regimes

Sustainable tropical rain forest management is currently the subject of strong interest. There are only a few experimental stations available to research the impact of forest management (especially logging practices) on stand growth. This study develops a quantitative model to describe and simulate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inForest science Vol. 44; no. 1
Main Author Favrichon, V. (Forest Department of CIRAD, Montpellier, France.)
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.02.1998
Subjects
AMENAGEMENT FORESTIER
APROVECHAMIENTO DE LA MADERA
BIODIVERSIDAD
BIODIVERSITE
BIODIVERSITY
BOSQUE HUMEDO
BOSQUE TROPICAL
BOTANICAL COMPOSITION
COMPOSICION BOTANICA
COMPOSITION BOTANIQUE
DURABILITE
ECOSISTEMA
ECOSYSTEME
ECOSYSTEMS
FOREST MANAGEMENT
FORET HUMIDE
FORET TROPICALE
FRENCH GUIANA
GUAYANA FRANCESA
GUYANE FRANCAISE
LOGGING
ORDENACION FORESTAL
RAIN FORESTS
RECOLTE DU BOIS
SOSTENIBILIDAD
SPECIES DIVERSITY
SUSTAINABILITY
TROPICAL FORESTS
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Summary:Sustainable tropical rain forest management is currently the subject of strong interest. There are only a few experimental stations available to research the impact of forest management (especially logging practices) on stand growth. This study develops a quantitative model to describe and simulate the dynamics of an undisturbed stand, as well as a logged uneven-aged, multispecies stand in French Guiana. This is a management-oriented matrix model. It takes into account three main characteristics of the forest dynamics in this type of ecosystem. First, we estimated density-dependence by nonlinear regression of the dynamics parameters (growth, mortality, and ingrowth). Second, a site effect is introduced on the assumption that the stand density in a natural stand is an approximate site characteristic and may help define the steady state corresponding to undisturbed conditions. Third, the very high species diversity is reduced by combining species into five groups based on growth behavior with reference to shade tolerance and maximum potential size. The model has been validated with short-term as well as medium-term projections. It was used to assess the stability of such a stand. We also evaluated the biological sustainability of logging practices, that is, the ability to return to the steady state in terms of total density as well as species composition
Bibliography:E20
F40
1997092755
K01
ISSN:0015-749X
DOI:10.1093/forestscience/44.1.113